Analyst: Wii 1.5 possible before end of 2012

March 8th, 2009 Posted in News, Posted by Valay, Wii

According to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, gamers may see the release of an upgraded Wii before 2012, which is when this console generation is expected to end (at the earliest). This would not be an entirely new system but rather, a Wii 1.5.

“It is possible Nintendo releases a slightly updated machine without a full upgrade – a Wii 1.5, if you will.”

This is not a completely outlandish idea, as one could argue that the DSi is a DS Lite 1.5 in that it is not an entirely new system.

Bhatia also mentioned that third-parties will begin to take share from Nintendo this year.

“Third-party publishers are aligning more towards the Wii console this year given the large (and rising) installed base and lower development costs for the Wii console…We expect third parties to take share from Nintendo.”


  1. 11 Responses to “Analyst: Wii 1.5 possible before end of 2012”

  2. By Rhytenow on Mar 6, 2009

    I think this also depend on the economy as well.

  3. By Anthony on Mar 6, 2009

    Not likely Nintendo would waste their time on an upgraded home console, they would judt develop a newone, this isn’t the same as handhelds which can be slightly upgraded! As 4 the 3rd parties yes they can expect a bigger share if they produce quality titles.

  4. By soupisgood08 on Mar 7, 2009

    no way a new wii would come out.have we every seen a new updated system from nintendo. no. have we seen hand helds. YEAH!

    the third partys. I think EA is going to be making alot of money.

  5. By 357 Lobster on Mar 8, 2009

    Ea has been doing well. Sega’s probably laughing all the way to the bank. Between Madworld, Conduit, and their awful, awful, Sonic games.

  6. By 357 Lobster on Mar 8, 2009

    As for market share, Nintendo’s gonna have a hard gaining any when they don’t publish games. Animal Crossing came out how long ago?

  7. By Anthony on Mar 8, 2009

    Nintendo is just holding there cards right now, and biding their time filling the gaps with NPC Gamecube games for now. They are giving 3rd parties a chance with this systems instead of pushing all their own titles every other month

  8. By 357 Lobster on Mar 9, 2009

    True true. It still seems kinda odd that they REALLY expected us to be content with City Folk and Wii Music for this long.

  9. By Dv8thwonder on Mar 15, 2009

    If Nintendo released a newer version of the Wii with updated hardware, visuals and greater storage capabilities I would buy that in a heartbeat.

  10. By zingers on Mar 15, 2009

    Analyst. I’m an analyst too. There will be at least one more generation of consoles from all 3 players. Nintendo has a massive ace up thier sleeves, a card that it’s competitors hava already played. It’s called HD graphics. All us Nintendo fanboys are gonna buy the next machine SIMPLY because we wanna Kart in HD. We wanna see Link fight Gannon in HD. We wanna see Mario and the gang in HD. Let’s not deny this. Nintendo simply bought some time with this generation. Simple as that.

  11. By Brandon on Mar 15, 2009

    Better happen before the end of 2012, we all know what happens then :P

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